NC congressman’s response to Virginia redistricting was hilariously hypocritical | Opinion
After more than a decade representing one of the most gerrymandered states in the country, one North Carolina congressman is finally realizing that partisan gerrymandering might be a bad thing.
“Virginia Democrats can’t redraw reality,” U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson said in a statement Tuesday after Virginia voters approved a temporary map that could give Democrats four more seats in Congress. “This close margin reinforces that Virginia is a purple state that shouldn’t be represented by a severe partisan gerrymander.”
It’s as hilarious as it is hypocritical. Does Hudson remember that he comes from North Carolina, a state that is notorious for its egregious partisan gerrymandering? Or does he just not care, because his outrage only applies to states gerrymandered for Democrats and not Republicans?
After all, none of that outrage was present when North Carolina Republicans answered President Donald Trump’s call to redraw congressional maps last year, giving their party an 11-3 advantage in a state that’s evenly divided politically. Nor was it present when Texas and Ohio did the same. And unlike in Virginia, voters in those states weren’t given the opportunity to weigh in. Their fates were decided for them.
For the past 15 years, Hudson and his Republican colleagues have been silent in the face of repeated partisan gerrymandering by North Carolina lawmakers because it’s kept them in Washington. When legislators gerrymandered yet another congressional map in 2023, Hudson praised them for “diligently [constructing] a fair and legal map that is a fair representation of the voters of the Tar Heel State.” It was most definitely not a “fair” representation. That effort threw out a court-drawn map that was one of the fairest in the country and replaced it with a map that gave Republicans 10 of the 14 seats.
Hudson, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, further lamented Tuesday’s election results, complaining that it would make it “harder” for Republicans to keep control of the House after November.
“It hurts. When you’ve got an illegal gerrymander that violates the state constitution, a divided purple state, 10-1, that makes it harder,” Hudson told a CNN reporter.
Yes, gerrymandering does hurt, but it’s the voters who suffer most of all. If Hudson really cared about that, he and his colleagues could pass a bill eliminating partisan gerrymandering and establishing independent redistricting commissions nationwide. It’s a bill that Democrats — and the public — would likely support. But that won’t happen, because Hudson’s frustration has nothing to do with moral opposition to partisan gerrymandering. He just doesn’t like when someone beats Republicans at their own game.
Deputy Opinion Editor Paige Masten is covering politics and the 2026 elections for The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer.
This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 10:51 AM with the headline "NC congressman’s response to Virginia redistricting was hilariously hypocritical | Opinion."
